Strange Parallels

Patterns in Eurasian Social Evolution

Bibliographic Data

ID9326992
AuthorsPeter Turchin (0000-0002-1292-8100, corresponding author)
Year2011
Pages538-552
Publication date2011-08-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of World-Systems Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1076-156X • E-ISSN: 1076-156X
PublisherUniversity Library System, University of Pittsburgh (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.5195/jwsr.2011.405
OpenAlexW2195568433
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited15

Most professional historians have abandoned the search for general patterns and laws of history, but not Victor Lieberman. Strange Parallels II (SP II), following on SP I, proposes that similar mechanisms governed state building in such different, and distant, regions as Southeast Asia, China, Western Europe, and Russia. During the period covered by Lieberman (c.800 1830) the general trend within these regions of Eurasia was towards increasing political and cultural integration. This overall trend was not monotonic; it was periodically interrupted by interregna periods of state breakdown and territorial fragmentation. However, as time unfolded the interregna became shorter and less disruptive. Remarkably, during the second millennium cycles of political integration and disintegration became increasingly correlated between the widely separated Eurasian regions. Lieberman s bold thesis is combined with truly encyclopedic scholarship and a breathtaking scope. SP II is a major achievement in comparative world history that will take future researchers years to fully digest. This review essay aims to make a first step in this direction

Archaeology · China · Geography · Parallels · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · State (computer science · State formation · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Mathematics

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